USL PRO Feature
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Without question, the road is hard for Antigua Barracuda FC this season. Away from home for much of the summer, with brief returns between their USL PRO schedule and international competitions, the Barracudas will face stern tests as they try to prove their mettle against the best the league has to offer.
While that might be the case, the road that the club has travelled down in its two years of competition has brought soccer in Antigua & Barbuda farther than it ever had before. After reaching the semifinals of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying last year, and the positive performances the side was able to produce, challenging the United States, Jamaica and Guatemala on their home turf, the program is proving a successful platform for the development of the country’s young players.
“I’m extremely happy,” Antigua & Barbuda FC General Secretary Gordon Derrick said this week. “We can see there has been an obvious improvement, a significant improvement, in the quality of play technically and tactically, and I think that can only be attributed to the program that was put together, the quality of USL PRO, providing high competition all the time and competing on a regular basis, travelling and doing all the necessary things to build the team. It has produced an increased standard of play in Antigua, especially in the national team at the next level.”
The benefits of the Barracudas have stretched beyond just the full national team. Current squad members Hazely Pyle and Eugine Kirwan have been key players for the A&B U20 national team, and the experience they gained with the Barracudas last season brought them to the verge of qualification for the final stage of CONCACAF U20 World Cup Qualifying this February. Only the flip of a coin denied them the opportunity advance to Mexico, with Curacao moving on when the coin fell their way after the two teams had finished tied on points, goals scored and goal differential.
The country’s age-group programs, which have also seen players like defender Omarie Daniel play for the U20s and Lloyd Jeremy and Alex Philip for the U23s, are benefitting from the effect of playing alongside professionals such as Tamarley Thomas, Randolph Burton and George Dublin, all of whom have been staples in the national team for a number of years. Those players are also continuing to spread their influence in the country’s amateur league, which has offered additional playing time through the USL PRO offseason as players focus on development year-round.
“You can see the influence of the coaching and what happens with the Barracudas, the professionalism that has been passed down into these amateur teams as they compete in our national league,” Derrick said. “I think all in all, the impact and all of the other things that come with having a pro team, it is doing well for the development of the sport in the country.”
The other effect the Barracudas have had is increasing the visibility of Antiguan players as they look to make moves overseas to continue their growth and face better opposition. The Charleston Battery’s Quinton Griffith and Charlotte Eagles’ Stefan Smith both made the jump this offseason, with Griffith proving an important addition so far this season as the Battery look to defend their title.
According to Derrick, the moves by Griffith and Smith are not only beneficial to the players and the national team, but also to young players in Antigua who will now get to fill their shoes on the Barracudas and try to maximize their potential.
“That was one of the cornerstones on which the entire Barracudas concept was built,” Derrick said. “We are really trying to develop what we would call a conveyor belt that will develop better home-grown players and move them throughout the world. Now, what will happen if this continues at the pace that it’s going, and we are able to move a player or two over the next five years, realistically we will have, apart from the Barracuda players, a really deep pool of professionals eligible and qualified to play for the national team, and that will make the senior national team even stronger.”
One of the players who could be a candidate to head overseas next is Molvin James, who has been one of the players who has benefitted most from the Barracudas. Still only 23, the goalkeeper had a number of standout performances last summer, and was also performing well prior to picking up an injury against Charleston earlier this season.
“The constant training, the professionalism, always being on top of your game an improving, the Barracudas represent that,” Derrick said. “Molvin is a person who is full of confidence, as a goalkeeper he’s not necessarily 6-foot-2, he’s not a very tall goalkeeper, but he has a big heart and he’s not afraid. He understands the game very well, and all of that has come from the constant playing and the constant development. This was absolutely critical for his development.
“Barring injury, he should be a solid member of the national team program for at least 10 years.”
For players like James, Kirwan and Daniel to continue that progression, of course, the Barracudas need to remain a strong presence in the country, and USL PRO. The club gets funding from the country’s government and tourism board, proudly advertising the island on its jerseys, but now the goal for Derrick and the Antigua & Barbuda FA is to grow the club’s coffers through private sponsorship, something which can be hard to find within Antigua. With a population of less than 100,000 people on an island that measures just 108 square miles, there aren’t many companies that see the need to advertise in the United States. As such, Derrick’s aim is to look to the U.S. mainland to try and find additional sponsors.
“For the Barracudas, I hope we can continue to attract the necessary sponsorship for this program,” Derrick said. “It is so different, and unique, how we’re doing this and how it’s come about, so we’re really trying to get businesses on board as partners to help them get value and promotion.”
When that arrives, Derrick believes the opportunity will be available for Antigua & Barbuda to emerge as one of the consistent forces in the CONCACAF region, and achieve the dream of advancing one day to a World Cup at both the senior national team and age-group levels.
“We want to become a household name in CONCACAF when it comes to senior team play, so when we have the Gold Cups and World Cup Qualifiers, Antigua wants to be always mentioned,” Derrick said. “When you get that good run from time to time you will impress someone so that maybe one day, we have the right crop having come through the system and will be able to compete seriously in CONCACAF and qualify for a FIFA World Cup competition.”